Australia
November 30, 2020

Spring-sown barley research trials sown as part of an initiative to maximise crop productivity in Tasmania will be the focus of a field day next month.

Tasmanian growers and advisers are being offered an opportunity to view the trials and hear from industry experts during the 2020 Hyper Yielding Crops Field Day at Hagley on Thursday, December 10.

Located at the Tasmania Crop Technology Centre, the trials are an important focus of the Grains Research and Development Corporation’s (GRDC) Hyper Yielding Crops (HYC) national investment.

FAR Australia’s senior field research officer, Darcy Warren, will be at the HYC field day at Hagley to explain the research programs, including the nutrition and disease management elements. Photo: Dean Allen-Craig
 

The four-year HYC investment spans five states – Tasmania, Victoria, South Australia, New South Wales and Western Australia – and aims to push the economically attainable yield boundaries of wheat, barley and canola.

The initiative involves five research centres of excellence and attached to each of these are focus farm paddock trials and an innovative grower network charged with taking research and development learnings from small plot to paddock scale.

Project leader Nick Poole, from Field Applied Research (FAR) Australia, says this national initiative builds on the success of the GRDC’s four-year Hyper Yielding Cereals project in Tasmania, which demonstrated it is possible to more than double yields in some situations with the right cultivars and tailored management strategies. The Hyper Yielding Cereals project generated significant attention from mainland growers.
 

Hyper Yielding Crops project leader Nick Poole (left) and extension co-ordinator Jon Midwood. Photo: Dean Allen-Craig
 

Mr Poole says spring-sown barley has the strongest fit with irrigated cropping rotations in Tasmania – more so than anywhere else in Australia.

“Not only does it offer greater opportunities for integration with winter fodder crops grown for livestock, it is invariably cheaper to grow than autumn-sown barley and allows more flexibility in controlling herbicide-resistant grass weeds,” he says.

“Through the HYC project, the aim is to look at the ideal combinations of germplasm, phenology and management in order to turn this crop into a reliable 10 tonne/hectare option under irrigation.”

Joining Mr Poole in presenting at the field day will be FAR Australia’s senior field research officer, Darcy Warren, who will explain the research programs including the nutrition and disease management elements, as well as Brett Davey from Southern Farming Systems which is the project’s primary collaborator in Tasmania.

HYC extension co-ordinator Jon Midwood, of TechCrop Services, will discuss HYC focus farms and the awards scheme which has been established to underpin a ‘whole community of interest’ concept.

The award scheme will enable growers to benchmark the agronomic performance of their crops compared with a regional standard.

The field day, from 10.30am-3.30pm, is for Tasmania’s growers and advisers only, and registration is compulsory. To register and for more information, go to our events page or contact Rachel Hamilton at FAR Australia on 0428 843456 or rachel.hamilton@faraustralia.com.au.

More information about the HYC initiative can be found in a GRDC podcast, and video, both featuring Mr Poole and Mr Midwood.

Website: http://www.grdc.com.au

Published: November 30, 2020